Sonoma County to lose five state parks due to budget cuts

The California State Parks announced a plan last May to permanently close 70 of its 238 Parks by July due to budget cuts. The park closures are meant to achieve an $11 million reduction in the next fiscal year (2011/12), that amount increasing to $22 million in the following fiscal year (2012/13).

 Of the parks on the list, 5 are located in Sonoma County: Sugarloaf Ridge, Jack London, Annadel, Petaluma Adobe and Austin Creek State Parks. Closures began all over the state in early September and will continue throughout the upcoming year.

Sugarloaf Ridge closed Dec. 1 of last year and is scheduled to remain closed until February. Jack London and Annadel State Park remain open for the time being with, Jack London closed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Sophomore Lindsey Strongman, a frequent hiker and nature enthusiast, is upset at the prospect of losing the local state parks.

"Who but the state employees would help preserve them?" she said. "I think they play a vital role in any adventurer's life and I would hate to see budgeting be a reason to end natural beauty."

Laura A. Watt, assistant professor of environmental studies and planning, was not as concerned with the upkeep of the parks during closures.

"I don't think there would be huge consequences. The parks close all the time, particularly at night," she said. "It's not like leaving a store open where everyone can rush in and raid it."

One solution has been an uprising of volunteers through nonprofit and other organizations attempting to keep parks running after the state closures.

An organization called The Valley of the Moon has been supporting state parks for the past 34 years. With the news of the upcoming closures, the VMNHA has assumed the operational responsibility necessary to keep nearby Jack London State Park open and thriving.

In fact, the state has been seeking approval to attract bids to operate eleven California parks; something critics fear could be a step towards privatization.

A proposal by state park officials would allow for Sugarloaf Ridge to be bundled with five Mendocino County parks in an attempt to interest bidders. The contracts could range from basic maintenance to running entire parks.

Elisa Stancil, vice president of the VMNHA, claims the state's management of the parks has been flawed to begin with, and could benefit from a new structure and a new way of thinking. She says their outdated, lateral business model fails to recognize the differences between each park.

"We're keeping track of everything we're doing, like a workbook," said Stancil. "By having different solutions for different parks, we're going to be able to demonstrate solutions for the other state parks that remain open."

Stancil believes the problem lies in the way the parks generate revenue and the weak effort to involve park patrons in the monetary health of the parks.

"Annadel State Park only collected $16,000 in 2010 while seeing over 100,000 people," said Stancil. She proposes a system in which park visitors would own passes that could be displayed on cars or clothing.

However, Stancil claims simply shutting down the parks won't be enough.

"We have been aware over the past 10 years that the state has a feeble ability to take care of its parks. We have dams ready to break, lakes in danger of becoming swamps. The idea of letting the parks close would continue this degradation," she said.